Barber of Seville: Honors takes Chicago Round 1

For the Honors Program, there are several “artistic events” we have to attend the second semester.  One of these was attending the Opera, Barber of Seville.  It was performed at the Lyric Opera House.

I have attended many ballets, dance performances, and theater events in the past, but I had never attended an Opera before.  We had a guest lecturer come in and tell us about the Opera before we saw it, so we could be prepared.  I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to follow it very well because it was going to be sung in Italian.  However, this was not the case.  The Lyric Opera House had English translations projected above the stage, which helped the audience members who don’t know Italian follow along and know what is happening. 

I really liked the Opera.  It was a comedy and was very entertaining.  The singing was phenomenal and the sets were very intricate.  Even the scene changes were well thought out and executed.  I was very impressed.    I have already looked at the rest of the season for the Chicago Opera and the Cincinnati Opera! I will definitely be seeing another opera in the future!

So. Much. Snow.

I sometimes wonder on really cold days why I did not go south for college.  I mean with temperatures below zero some days, the snow, and the WIND.  I know it is the windy city, but the cold wind can be brutal some days.  It often looks like I’m crying because my eyes water from the wind. 

I always love getting on Facebook or Twitter when there has been a lot of snow where my friends are and seeing that they have a delay or they are off.  Unfortunately, Loyola has closed school only once during the normal school year in the past 30 years.  There was one morning when it was close to -35º with wind chill.  I was freezing.  There was also one Monday afternoon where we received a few inches within a few hours.  It was ridiculous but sometimes fun!

I do love Chicago though! There is so much to do and so many great opportunities.  I am just looking forward to the warmer temperatures.  Loyola has two breaks in the Spring Semester: a Spring Break (or a 2^nd winter break because of the cold temperatures) and an Easter Break because it is a Jesuit university. 

My family is coming up to Chicago for my Easter Break so I can’t wait to go to some of the places I just haven’t had time for yet!  We will definitely be trying many different restaurants and MANY bakeries.  I think we will be eating mostly sweets that weekend. :)

Any good bakeries or favorite places you like to visit in Chicago?

Eataly: A birthday celebration

I am on the Megabus coming home for Spring Break! I am writing MANY posts to be posted throughout the week.  So look for them to come.  

Post written February 20, 2014

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It has been an exciting week! On Tuesday, I went to Barber of Seville, the opera, but there will be more on that later.  On Wednesday night, my friends and I took our other friend Marissa downtown for her birthday dinner.  We went to Eataly, a collection of Italian restaurants and markets.  Think an Italian Whole Foods with multiple different sit-down areas.  It is really hard to explain exactly what it is!

I really like this quote. 

The place is incredible! There is so much to choose from AND everything is fresh!  Almost all of the food served is made in Eataly.  My friends and I went to the restaurant that specialized in pizza and pasta.  There was a 45 minute wait, so we walked around and went to the Nutella bar first.  Who says you can't have dessert before dinner?

We ordered Nutella crepes and a croissant filled with Nutella.  It was delicious!  The crepes were made fresh and tasted so good.  I will definitely be trying more.  They also sold giant jars of Nutella.  My friends and I were tempted to buy one because we go through them so fast.  

The restaurant takes your cell phone number, so when your table is ready they text you! How smart is that? There were many options on the menu that sounded good.  Each of us got something different, so we were able to try 5 different dishes.

I love seafood (and because they don't really serve seafood in the dining halls....) so I tried the pasta with mussels, squid, shrimp, and scallops.  I definitely missed my seafood! It was delicious!

I highly recommend trying Eataly.  You don't have to have dinner there.  It is enjoyable to just walk around and look at everything.  If you did want to eat something, you could try some of the lighter options downstairs or try one of the many restaurants upstairs.  There are many "higher scale" options also!

The atmosphere gave off a young professional vibe but there were people of all ages.  It could be a very good place for a date because there is so much to see and talk about.

Do you have any stories from Eataly?

Gyu-Kaku

I celebrated two birthdays within 7 days in February!  Our tradition with my group of friends is to try a different restaurant for each birthday.  Side note: this is a different group of friends from the Eataly post.  This time it was Bridget's birthday. She is more adventurous with her restaurants so surprised her in going to Gyu-Kaku, on Ohio Street downtown.  One of my other friends lives down the street from this restaurant so she picked it.  

It is an unique restaurant.  For the main dishes (and possibly some appetizers?) you just order raw meat.  When I first heard about this I was a little taken back.  But then there is a grill in the middle of your table and you can cook the meat however you want it! 

We ordered a few appetizers, 5 different meats to share, and 2 sides.  It was actually a lot of fun! I am a picky eater and don't really like spicy food, but this was good! 

Ever since coming to college, I have been trying to be more adventurous with trying food.  AND... I tried everything.  Even the kinda weird cabbage, the mushroom side and the appetizers labeled spicy.  

Surprisingly, it wasn't bad! The mushrooms were a different kind of mushrooms and looked like spaghetti.  They were also buttery which was good.  The restaurant only has chopsticks out (but I'm sure you could ask for a fork) so that was also a learning stretch for me.  

 They even brought her a dessert!

I would definitely go back!  The other nice part of the restaurant is that it was not very expensive.  It was rather reasonable.  

Have you had any similar experiences with restaurants?